Chancellor Orders Freeze on Terror Entity Assets

Chancellor Gordon Brown today instructed the Bank of England, acting as HM Treasury’s agent, to direct all UK financial institutions to freeze any funds held for or on behalf of the entity, the Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia (MIRA) immediately.

The action has been taken because the Treasury have reasonable grounds for suspecting that the organisation is acting on behalf of Sa’ad Al-Faqih, who was listed by the UN as an associate of Al-Qa’ida yesterday, 23 December 2004.

Notes to editors

1. The Chancellor has instructed the Bank of England to direct all UK financial institutions to take immediate action to freeze all funds belonging to MIRA. This means that any funds held by MIRA in the UK cannot be released. It is now a criminal offence for any financial institution to hold or facilitate funds held by the MIRA.

2. The asset freeze is authorised under the Al Qa’ida and Taliban (United Nations Measures) Order 2001.

3. The Order gives the Treasury power to freeze the funds of persons provided certain criteria set out in the Order are met. These include where there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that the person is or may be a person who acts on behalf of a person listed by the UN under Security Council Resolution 1390.

4. The Treasury implement asset freezes by instructing the Bank of England, as their agent, to issue a notice directing financial institutions that any funds that they hold for or on behalf of the listed persons or entities must be frozen. The Bank Notice is published on the Bank of England’s website and emailed to some 600 financial institutions and trade associations.

5. Media enquiries should be addressed to Amy Burgess at the Treasury press office on 020 7270 4982 .

6. Non-media enquiries should be addressed to the Treasury Correspondence and Enquiry Unit on 020 7270 4558, or by e-mail to public.enquiries@hm-treasury.gov.uk.

7. This press release and other Treasury publications and information are available on the Treasury website. If you would like Treasury press releases to be sent to you automatically by e-mail you can subscribe to this service from the press release site on the website .